Much like fellow music-industry vet Steve Earle, Tom Cochrane plays heartfelt, roots-based music with a conscience. And like Earle he found early success within the confines of a band (Red Rider), but eventually struck out on his own, expanding his musical vision as he pleased. This two-disc retrospective not only brings together all the best musical moments of Cochrane’s long, accomplished career, it provides an autobiographical account of his life and the world he grew up in. His honest and thoughtful lyrics not only examine his own ups and downs, they inquisitively explore larger societal issues--from the defiant “Human Race” to “Just Like Ali,” about dealing with a terminally ill parent--without ever preaching. Sequenced more or less in order, starting with 1979’s “White Hot,” from Red Rider’s first album, Don’t Fight It, the two discs are evenly divided between Red Rider’s terse, funky new wave (disc one) and Cochrane’s more expansive and rootsy solo material (disc two). All the essential hits are included--from the cult paranoia of “Lunatic Fringe” to the hopeful “Life is a Highway”--and though the recording quality varied in the 20-plus years covered here, the sound throughout this collection is consistent and robust. Trapeze is a well-balanced and complete document of Tom Cochrane’s consistently entertaining and varied musical career.

2002 compilation for the Canadian singer/songwriter & his band Red Rider includes one new track, 'Just Like Ali'.

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